


Old Veterans of the Nonary Games

by Leonidas1754



Category: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors - Fandom, Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: And Kyle and Quark being buds, Gen, I haven't played ZTD yet, Post-VLR, So Sigma and Junpei being friends, So some of this might be off, Spoilers for VLR and 999, but I had inspiration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 15:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10947342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonidas1754/pseuds/Leonidas1754
Summary: Sigma finally returns to Earth after the end of the AB Project, intending to try to make a somewhat normal life for himself and Kyle. He and Tenmyouji discuss the project, Akane, and life while Quark and Kyle are out exploring.





	Old Veterans of the Nonary Games

**Author's Note:**

> I'll admit, this was originally supposed to be a shippy fic. It's kind of baffling that it didn't end up that way, I don't usually write non-shippy things. Maybe I'll write another chapter or something. Anyways, I just finished VLR and can't get ZTD yet, so forgive me for anything contradicted here by that game.  
> I feel bad for Junpei, he's been through a lot of shit.

Sigma took a deep breath, sighing softly through his nose. The Earth looked a lot different than it had nearly half a century ago. That was to be expected, of course, but after so long, it was still a touch jarring. It still looked far better than what he was used to, the drab, dark halls of Rhizome 9. With the AB Project finished, there really wasn’t anything left for him to do there. This timeline, he failed in the past. And he really didn’t want to think about it right now, or maybe ever. Besides, Kyle deserved a good life, especially after everything that happened.

That line of thinking was what led him to be standing outside Tenmyouji’s door. Kyle was at his back, shifting awkwardly. “Dad..?”

He turned back. “Sorry. Were you saying something?”

Kyle reached up, rubbing his neck. “No, but… You’re supposed to knock on the door, right? That’s how they know you’re here?”

Sigma felt the smile tug at the edge of his lips. “Yea, that’s it. Sorry, I’m just… Nervous, I suppose. After all, he might not be very happy to see me.”

Kyle nodded, lips pursed. “Yea, you’ve got a point…”

“Well, we’re just here to let them know we’re here on Earth now. And then we can go exploring like you wanted, alright?” he reassured Kyle, doing his best to smile himself.

“Right. Do you want me to knock for you?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not  _ that  _ old yet,” Sigma said with a derisive snort. He then turned back and, with only the slightest bit of hesitation, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

There was a few moments of quiet, then the door flew open. To his surprise, it wasn’t Tenmyouji that answered, but Quark. “Mr. Sigma!” he cried out in joy and leaped forward, wrapping his arms tight around Sigma’s middle.

Sigma grunted softly and chuckled, patting Quark’s head. “Hey little buddy. Good to see you’re well.”

“Yea, you two! And Mr. Kyle, of course.” He leaned over to peek behind Sigma and give Kyle a wave. “But why are you here? Shouldn’t you still be on the moon?”

“Well… With the AB Project over, there’s no real reason for me to be up there. And I figured Kyle shouldn’t spend his entire life on the moon. How’ve you been?”

Quark stepped back, beaming up at him. “I’m good. So does that mean you’re going to live here now? Is that why you’re here?”

Sigma nodded. “Yes, we’ve got a little house across town.” Well, it wasn’t as if the town was very big, but it still felt strange to say. At the very least, they wouldn’t be right next to Quark and Tenmyouji, just in case he wasn’t very fond of the idea of them being around.

“Whoa, that’s so cool! I can’t believe you’re gonna be so close, Mr. Sigma! I’m gonna show you guys all over, it’s gonna be so cool!”

“Quark, what in the world are you yelling abo- Oh.” Tenmyouji had come to the door to see what Quark was making a commotion about. He paused as he spotted Sigma, with Kyle lurking somewhat awkwardly behind him. Without his armor, Tenmyouji had to take a moment to remember who exactly who he was. “Quark… Why don’t you go out to play?”

Quark could take a hint at this point, but he wasn’t getting sent away so easily. “Hey Mr. Kyle, why don’t we go explore! I can show you a bunch of cool places.”

Tenmyouji pursed his lips, not particularly fond of the idea, but he doubted he was going to presuade Quark out of the idea, so he let it slide. Kyle looked to his father somewhat helplessly, as if unsure it was alright. Simga couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Go ahead. It’s probably best if one of us goes with someone who actually knows where they’re going, first. It wouldn’t do to get all the way here only to get lost or something like that. You can show me what Quark does later.”

Kyle smiled a bit and gave them a wave before he stumbled as Quark dragged him off, already rambling in excitement.

The two elder men watched them go for a moment before Tenmyouji caught Sigma’s attention. “Alright, let’s get to the point. What are you doing here?”

“Well, like I told Quark, with the AB Project over, there’s no point in staying at Rhizome 9. And I figured Kyle should have a chance at something akin to a normal life. I thought it would be best to tell you we’re here, rather than have an awkward run in or something of the sort.”

“Makes sense. Quark will be happy to have a new friend.” He smirked slightly as Sigma looked surprised. “What, didn’t think I’d want Quark around you and Kyle? Can’t say I’m crazy about the idea, but I doubt I could stop Quark if I tried. And besides, I know the two of you don’t have any bad intentions towards him. You want to come in? No point in you just standing out there.”

Without even waiting for an answer, Tenmyouji stepped inside, leaving Sigma to follow him. He sat down on a couch, heaving a deep breath as Sigma sat beside him. For a few moments, they sat in silence as Sigma looked around. The house was small and sparse, but undeniably homey, and warm in its own way. It wasn’t what Junpei was familiar with when he thought of home, but what was anymore? There wasn’t much they could do about it, now.

Finally, Sigma couldn’t stand the quiet anymore. “Akane stayed up there, in Rhizome 9. She didn’t really explain it to me, but I didn’t ask, either.”

Tenmyouji suddenly looked incredibly tired. “Thanks, I suppose. I’m not surprised she didn’t explain. That’s just the way she is, nowadays. Or maybe she was always like that. I don’t know anymore.”

“You loved her.” The words came before Sigma could stop them.

Tenmyouji didn’t seem to mind, though. “Yea… Yea, I did. Part of me still does, I guess. Chased her for a better part of my life. But… She’s not the girl I fell in love with anymore, she probably hasn’t been since we last saw each other as kids.”

“She… She still cares about you, you know. She still has that doll you gave her.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse. I’d say I can’t change the past, but, well, you know.” That drew a derisive chuckle from both of them. “Just seems like anymore, the ends justify the means with her. I know some things would be unavoidable, in these cases, but surely there were better ways to do some of these things.”

“Probably. I don’t know. All I know is what happened was what I needed to make happen, and she’d often stop me if I tried to change some things. I originally wanted to make it so that everyone but my young self and Phi would know what was going to happen, at least roughly. Well, and Dio, of course. To cause the least amount of damage I could. But she insisted it would screw things up, and maybe it would have. I’ve never found a time where I actually did it, so I don’t know.” Sigma hadn’t expected the words to come so easily. “I couldn’t fake the danger you’d be in, so I tried to make your potential death as painless as possible.”

“That’s why you had the bracelets knock us out first, instead of just injecting us with the muscle relaxant. Also gave us a chance to try to get the bracelets off before they finally killed us.”

“Mhm. It wasn’t much, and it’s not like it made things right. I still remember the terror of it happening in some histories.”

“There’s no way to make that sort of thing right. I guess it does make me appreciate the fact that I don’t have the same ability you do, though. Current me never had to go through that, or watch others go through it.” Tenmyouji rubbed his eyes with his hands, leaning back. “So often I just ask, ‘Why me?’ because hell, my life has been absolute insanity sometimes. Most recently I even dragged Quark into it, after I told myself he was more important than chasing Akane.”

“Yea, I can understand that. I can’t say I threw my life away, because I accomplished a lot, even if it wasn’t for a great reason, and I can’t regret Kyle. And even if you all hate me, I can’t say I regret meeting you all. Even if we did drive each other nuts at times, huh Tenmyouji?” Sigma joked.

Tenmyouji snorted. “Just call me Junpei. At this point, you might as well. And yea, we did. Especially Dio, just… Screw him in particular.”

Sigma jolted a bit in surprise. “Ah, alright. And yea, he’s… I get that it’s at least in part what he grew up with, it’s all he’s known, but still, I’m pretty sure being a member of Free the Soul doesn’t require you to be a giant douche as well.”

“Hah, you said it, not me. I guess that’s the other reason I’m alright with you being around.”

“What do you mean?”

Tenmyouji- ‘ _ No, Junpei,’ _ Sigma corrected himself internally- leaned forward on his knees, folding his hands in front of him. “In many ways, you were just doing what you already knew. You didn’t chose this situation, and Akane didn’t either, but you still care. Maybe it’s just because she’s done this twice now, but still… She just doesn’t seem to care anymore.”

Sigma nodded. He had to agree, really, though of course he saw her side of it as well. “I guess that’s just how she protects herself. I can’t imagine having to go through this a second time.”

“Well, at least the first time, no innocent person was actually in danger of dying from their bracelet. The only ones who actually had bombs inside them were the orchestrators of the very first project, the one that killed her as a kid. Or, well, would have killed her. It’s still hard to wrap my head around that one.”

“Yea, I don’t quite get it either. I try not to think about it more than I absolutely have to, since it’s all confusing as it is, even with the study I’ve done.”

“I don’t blame you. So… What are you going to do around here, hm? You’ll need to get a job, Kyle too.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure out something. With all our knowledge, we’re bound to be able to apply it somehow.” If he was being honest with himself, he was worried about it. He was old, and Kyle was on the socially-inexperienced side, even if he’d gotten far better lately.

Apparently, Junpei picked up on his stress. “Don’t worry about it too much. You may be an old fart, but Kyle’s pretty young and strong. He could at least do manual labor and such around here until you guys figure out a more permanent solution. And if you need some help, just give me a shout, I can probably point you in the right direction for things. Probably.”

“Oh… Thank you, Junpei. That means a lot.” He smiled a bit. “You know, that reminds me of something… A little weird, I guess, you said to me in one history.”

“Oh boy,” Junpei said, wincing. “Do I even want to know?”

Sigma chuckled. “I don’t know, I mean, if you don’t want to hear it, I won’t tell you.”

Junpei waved a hand. “No, tell me, you brought it up, I need to hear it now. What weird or embarrassing thing did I say to you?”

“Well, it was a time we went through the first doors together, the yellow door, to the infirmary. I was examining one of the pillows when you offered to share it with me,” Sigma said, unable to keep the slight laughter out of his voice.

Junpei, on the other hand, groaned softly. “Yep, that sounds like something stupid I’d say.”

Sigma laughed. “Imagine how I felt at the time, seeing as I still thought I was a twenty-two year old, well, with the same body of one as well as mind.”

“That kind of makes it worse. I mean, I didn’t know, you appeared to be the same age as myself and I had no reason to suspect this mind-time-whatever bullshit.” Junpei presses his palms to his eyes. “I probably sounded like some sort of weirdo pervert.”

“To be fair, I wasn’t better, most of the time. I definitely looked like and perverted old man sometimes. It’s kind of mortifying to think about.”

“Yup. Didn’t you have some sort of fixation on swimsuits..?”

“Yea… Ah well. It’s in the past now. For both of us,” he added with a shake of his head. “It’s over, for good. There’s not much to do about it all now.”

Junpei finally pulled his hands away from his eyes, looking at Sigma again. “Right, right. You know, Kyle may be your clone, but he’s a hell of a lot different than you in most ways, like not being as much of a pervert. Or at least, he’s better at keeping it internal.”

“Nature versus nurture, I suppose. Though,” he added with a wince, “I wasn’t so great with the second part either. I didn’t really have a good relationship with him until he was pretty much already an adult.”

“Yikes. Well, he seems to have turned out alright anyways. So in the end, you did something right.”

“Thank you, I suppose.” Sigma sat back on the couch, slumping. “It’s going to be strange, living a comparatively normal life. Though I guess it’s too late to get back into dating, huh?”

Junpei chuckled. “Probably, yea. I hadn’t even thought about it. I’m still taking care of Quark, after all.”

“What, didn’t you know? Women love a man who’s good with kids.”

They both stared at each other for a few moments before cracking up. It was a short time before either was actually able to speak again. “That was terrible,” Junpei wheezed out.

“Sorry, sorry, I just-” Sigma coughed, then continued. “Couldn’t resist, it was too easy.”

“Jeez… I’ll admit, I’m kind of dreading Quark finally hitting puberty. Dealing with that should be… interesting, and hopefully not for a few more years.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it. And I guess you can call me, if you need help.”

They spent the rest of the day talking like that. One subject to another, just a natural conversation, and Sigma had to appreciate it. He had to admit his relief, at least to himself, that Junpei was amiable towards him. He barely noticed the time passing until he heard Quark and Kyle returning from whatever adventures Quark had taken them on. He turned to look over the back of the couch, seeing a scrape on Kyle’s left hand and a bruise on his right cheek. “Hey, are you alright? Get into some trouble?”

Kyle rubbed his neck, looking sheepish, and Quark chimed in with a laugh. “He fell down by the river, he almost fell in the water! He’s fine, though, it’s nothing bad.”

Junpei shook his head. “Be careful next time. It rained recently, the bank always gets slippery afterwards.”

Kyle nodded with a short laugh. “Yea, I noticed.”

“I’m gonna show Kyle my room, c’mon!” He took Kyle’s hand and dragged him down the hall before the elder male could protest. Quark shut the door quickly behind him and motioned for Kyle to stay quiet. They stayed so until they heard soft, pleasant voices rise from the main room again.

Kyle smiled, relief showing in his expression. “Seems like things are good between them. That was the big thing my father was worried about, coming here.”

“Yea. Grandpa still doesn’t really like what happened, but he doesn’t hate Mr. Sigma or anything.” Quark picked his way through the room, hopping onto his bed.

Kyle did his best to follow, gazing around at all the piles of things scattered around. Most of it seemed useless to him, but Quark and Temnyouji were the gathering experts here, so he couldn’t say much about it. He finally sat on the side of the bed. “So you said you wanted to show me something when we got back?”

“Yep! But you gotta promise to keep it secret, okay?”

Kyle wasn’t sure how he felt about the somewhat devious smile of Quark’s, but he nodded anyways. “Just as long as it’s not dangerous, alright?”

Quark rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s not dangerous, you doofus.” He pulled a loose panel from the wall and retrieved a roll of paper from behind it. “Do you remember that poster in the Crew Quarters of the moon base?”

“Of course. It was one of those odd scratch posters, right?”

“Yep!” Quark carefully unrolled the paper, revealing a picture of a beautiful, fair-skinned woman standing on the beach, wearing a dress made of a flat-looking silver material. The poster was creased and faded in places, but still in relatively good shape. “I found it a little while ago, but I didn’t tell Grandpa.”

Kyle’s eyes widened, and he glanced nervously at the door, as if one of their parental figures would come bursting in suddenly. “Are you sure you should have this?” he asked, lowering his voice. He doubted his father or Quark’s grandfather would hear them anyways, but he felt compelled to anyways.

“Aw come on, aren’t you curious?” Quark didn’t wait for an answer before pressing on. “You wanna scratch it off with me?”

Kyle bit his lip. He knew he shouldn’t, that he should be the adult here and stop this. Quark was still relatively young, even if he was a teenager, and Kyle doubted Tenmyouji would be very happy if he found out, but…

“Got any coins, then?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a comment on what you think, it means a lot to me.


End file.
